by Beth Byers
Joseph snorted and left, finding his way to the room where Lizette Lynd was sitting up, picking at her blanket. It wasn’t plain and utilitarian but looked like a quilt from the doctor’s own bed.
“Can you believe this place?” she snapped. “Who are you? Where is my husband? Where is my mother-in-law?”
“They were here quite late, ma’am,” Joseph told her. “I took them both home very early this morning.”
Lizette Lynd scoffed. “I shouldn’t be here alone.” She sniffed, glancing him up and down, and then ordered, “Go get them.”
Joseph took a seat.
“I said to go get them.”
“I’m not your servant, Mrs. Lynd. I’m a Detective Inspector for Scotland Yard, and I’m here to find out what happened.”
Mrs. Lynd’s pale blue eyes sharpened and her face blanked. Joseph stared in a bit of shock as the woman overtly crossed her arms over her chest. “I have no intention of answering questions without my husband present. In fact, I am quite uncomfortable by your presence in my room.”
Joseph blinked. Her accusation was dark enough that he knew he’d be accused of something untoward if he didn’t leave immediately. There was a cleared throat near the doorway and Joseph glanced back and saw Dr. West.
“That’s quite enough of that, Mrs. Lynd,” Dr. West said. “You aren’t alone or being molested.”
Mrs. Lynd eyes widened and her face flushed. She opened her mouth to let out what would, no doubt, be a tirade.
Joseph jumped in. “Who hurt you, Mrs. Lynd?”
She shook her head.
“Did you see them?
She shook her head.
“Who knew you were at your mother-in-law’s?”
Lizette Lynd lifted her eyebrows and shook her head.
“Mrs. Lynd, I need answers or I’m going to assume you’re protecting someone. Your husband perhaps?”
Joseph could well imagine knocking this woman a good one over the back of her head. Being married to her? That sourness being your regular good morning? Joseph shook his head. “You need to answer these questions, Mrs. Lynd. If it wasn’t anyone you know, if we have a rampaging criminal on our hands and they hurt another when you refused to answer? Well now—that comes back to you.”
It was the wrong thing to say. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and said, “Dr. West, I feel quite ill.”
The two men looked at each other and then Dr. West jerked his head towards the door of the room. They walked out together.
“I could use a drink,” Dr. West muttered.
“I’ll buy you one when this is over,” Joseph said. “And I think I have an idea of who can help you in the short term. Let me find Georgette.”
“Mrs. Aaron? Her husband seems too protective of her to allow her to work here.”
“Oh, Georgette is too busy, and Charles would never be happy with Georgette being run off her feet by that Mrs. Lynd. They know a person. Let me talk to Georgette and have her ask the girl I’m thinking of.” Joseph slapped Dr. West on the back again. “I’ll go offer Mrs. Lynd and her son a ride to your office and then see what else can be done.”
Joseph would have admitted to fleeing into the nighttime, but it was mid-morning. He crossed to his auto and then realized that Katherine Lynd and her son were approaching. He’d met Mrs. Lynd at Georgette’s during tea a time or two, but the previous night was the first time he’d met the son. John Lynd was a big man. He had large brown eyes with dark circles under them, and a big belly. Before he’d realized how hurt his wife had been, he’d seemed jolly.
The fellow had deflated when he’d seen his wife. He’d taken her hand. “Zette? Zettie, darling? Please.” He’d collapsed into the chair next to his wife with his mother rubbing his back. “Please, sweetheart. Please.”
Joseph shook his head and then reached out. “Good news, John, your wife is awake and talking.”
“Thank god,” he said. “She must be sassy since we’re late. Mother—”
“She’ll understand,” Katherine told him, her gaze darting to Joseph and then back to her son. This was not a woman who believed what she was saying. “We can only do what we can do, John.”
John nodded and hurried towards the doctor’s office while Katherine stayed behind.
“John wasn’t here with her yesterday,” she told Joseph quietly.
“How do you know?” Joseph asked.
Katherine glanced behind her, making sure that her son wasn’t around and then told him. “I’m aware of what my daughter-in-law is.”
Joseph lifted his brows.
“My son has loved her since he was thirteen years old.” She shook her head and added, “I don’t know why.”
Joseph had no idea what to say to that. His eyes landed on a lovely, young woman, slender and perfect who had him completely besotted. He wanted to cross to her, but he couldn’t leave the interview. He tried to nod at her, but he could see immediately that in not crossing to her, he’d made a mistake.
Marian shook her head at him and turned towards Georgette’s house. But first, she stared a long time at the leaving train. The next was a few hours away, and she couldn’t escape him.
“Do you know who would have hurt her?”
Katherine paused. Joseph suspected that she might have had an answer, but it would include many of the people she loved. Instead she shook her head again and told Joseph, “I’m needed inside.”
By the time Mrs. Lynd had stepped away from him, Marian was gone. Joseph considered going back to the scene of the crime, but what he needed was a person who had an idea of the vagaries of the Lynd family. Joseph guessed who might be able to help, but he’d be damned if he didn’t go chasing after Marian.
He ran down the street after her and called, “Marian?”
If she heard him, she didn’t reply. He shouldn’t have been so upset about that fellow at her family dinner. But—he couldn’t help it. He knew her parents were trying to talk her out of marrying him, but he knew that he could trust her. However, there was a pit growing in his stomach that he was going to lose her all the same.
What he needed, he thought, was Georgette on his side. Georgette’s opinion was the most important to Marian. If Joseph were being honest with himself, he’d admit that he was jealous. Was his jealousy why things were going so wrong with Marian? He shook his head as he tried the teashop. He wanted to talk to people who he respected and trusted, but Georgette and Charles had left. The vicar’s wife was nearby, but she wouldn’t do.
Chapter 6
GEORGETTE DOROTHY AARON
Georgette had decided to look for Joseph when Joseph found her. He looked at her for a long moment and then collapsed into one of the chairs in her office and admitted, “I’m messing everything up with Marian and I don’t know what to do.”
She stared at him, surprised and then asked quietly. “Why are you telling me?”
“Georgette,” he laughed weakly, “the look on your face.” He shook his head and then took a seat next to her typewriter. “I’m asking you because you’re the matriarch now.”
“The what?” She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t stop herself. She must be gaping like a fish, mouth open, eyes wide, suffocating by the sheer idea of anyone looking to her for anything other than an odd tea.
She poured herself a fortifying cuppa, added an excess of milk, and then added a further excess of sugar. She closed her eyes as she sipped it and then cast a daggered glance at Joseph.
“I am not the matriarch.”
“Charles is the patriarch.”
She tried intensifying the daggered glance, but he only laughed at her.
“Would you deny us a mother?” he tried and Georgette winced.
“I believe that we’re of a similar age, Joseph.”
“Do you know what I remember about my mother?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “Her smell. The tone of her voice. The way she always made sure I was all right. Even when I wasn’t all right, I’d talk to her and then it would
be okay.”
“Are you not all right, Joseph?”
He shook his head. “I’m not. I—Marian’s family hates me.”
Georgette’s eyes widened and she put her cup of tea in front of her mouth.
“Hiding your reaction doesn’t change the facts, Georgette. Her family hates me.”
“They’re concerned,” she said carefully. “Being married to a Scotland Yard man can be a hard life, Joseph. You work long, odd hours. She’ll be alone quite often. Her parents do have valid concerns, and you know they are right to.”
He put his hands over his face. “So I should be unhappy? She knew what I was when I pursued her, Georgette.”
Georgette bit down on her bottom lip, fighting the desire to spew her thoughts. She couldn’t betray Marian’s confidences despite any burning desire to leap into the fray and fix things between the first and best of her friends and her new family.
Georgette took in a deep breath. “What I needed from Charles was his honesty.”
“My honesty is that her parents are driving me mad, they’re trying to control her, and it infuriates me. How am I supposed to tell her that I’m growing to despise them?”
“You despise my family?” Marian asked from the doorway. She had been upset since she’d arrived, but now she was pale, red circles on her cheeks, dark circles under her eyes.
Joseph’s reply was a dark curse. “Damn it, Georgette!”
“It’s not her fault that you have secrets about my family!” Marian clutched her collarbone and a tear ran down her cheek. “Joseph—” She stopped with a choked cry and ran from the room.
Georgette carefully crossed her fingers and studied him. “Are you going to go after her?”
“No!” He cursed again. “No, I have to work, Georgette. I—the doctor needs help with that woman there. What do you think of sending Lucy?”
Georgette blinked in surprise and then said, “I suppose you should ask her. Make sure you tell Lucy that the woman is sour before you start pitching charity at her. She wants to help.”
“I will.” He sighed. He stood and then said, “If my loving Marian matters, help me, please. Surely being loved and wanted is of a value of itself? No man is going to be perfect.”
Georgette squeezed his hand, but she didn’t make a promise. She wasn’t sure she could. The look on Marian’s face—it had been painful to see. Things were going wrong between Marian and Joseph, and Georgette was afraid to make it worse.
He searched her face and accepted what he saw there. “I need to talk to someone about Katherine’s family. Lizette is giving us nothing. She refused to answer my questions and instead insinuated that I was abusing her.”
Georgette frowned. “Did you get assigned to this case?”
“They asked, I live here, it’s an easy request to answer. Especially since I’m in between larger cases. I think my supervisor thought it would take an afternoon. Who would guess that the victim would refuse to answer questions?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Georgette mused.
Georgette paused long enough to see what he’d say, but he only waited for her to continue.
“She’s a mean woman. I could imagine that a passerby attacked her.”
“In Harper’s Hollow? Off the beaten path? With no tramps around? I suppose it’s possible a person came through, but these fellows are looking for work, not someone to attack.”
“There are more tramps lately.” Georgette’s doubt filled her tone and Joseph nodded. “There are so many people who don’t have enough. Under enough provocation, one might lash out at a woman, especially a scornful one like Mrs. Lynd.”
Joseph shook his head, not that Georgette was wrong. It was that neither of them believed that a random person found Lizette Lynd in the wood and decided to strike her down no matter how ugly she’d behaved. It was possible, but likely? No. Georgette didn’t believe it.
Especially since there hadn’t been a rumor of tramps seen wandering the village. It was incredibly unlikely that a stranger was seen in the village on the same day that a woman was struck down, and they wouldn’t hear of it a good half-dozen times before the day was over.
“If it isn’t a stranger,” Georgette said, “the person who tried to hurt Lizette Lynd knows her, knows Katherine’s home, and knew that Lizette could be found there.”
Joseph said nothing, but she knew he agreed. There was, after all, a reason he was looking into Katherine’s family.
“Higgins is doing the rounds. Questioning those who spend time in the wood or were in it yesterday, but so far no one has seen anything.”
“Anna Mustly is who you want to talk to,” Georgette told him. “She knows Katherine well. In fact, it was Anna who walked me over to meet Katherine the first time.”
Joseph nodded and started to leave. He looked back to Georgette and added, “It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to avoid the wood until we’re sure.”
Georgette watched Marian from the doorway of her bedroom for a long time before she said, “Hello darling.”
Marian looked up from the window and wiped her tears away. “Hello darling.”
The repeated phrase was darker and cracked when Marian said it. Georgette sat down next to her friend on the window seat and wrapped her arm around the younger woman. “Shall we dip into Charles’s bar and have cocktails?”
“It isn’t even teatime.”
“You know I do appreciate a good afternoon tea and some deep breaths, but we can give your tea a little extra zazzle.”
Marian laughed a woeful sound. Her gaze met Georgette’s and she sniffed, pressing her finger against the corner of her eye to dab away another tear. “Will you still love me if Joseph and I don’t work out?”
Just saying the words had Marian collapsing into her handkerchief.
“You know what I hear when you weep like that?”
Marian shook her head, still curled into her hands and handkerchief.
“That you love him.”
Marian didn’t reply and Georgette bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from demanding an answer. Instead she looked out the window where Marian had been staring and saw Joseph talking with Anna Mustly in the back garden.
Oh, Marian, Georgette thought, and then said, “I was going to go to the baker and the grocer and see if I can bring a few things to Katherine’s family. Eunice is making them a meal that they can heat as they choose, but I thought it might be nice to get a few things that were a bit easier. Perhaps fruit and bread?”
Marian sniffed, blew her nose, and said, “Let me wash my face. Fresh air would do me good.” She shivered as though her lungs and body fought against calm.
Georgette watched Marian disappear into the bath and then wondered if it would be too obvious to walk to the main part of the village by way of the cottage Joseph had bought for Marian.
Marian grabbed a jumper, slid it over the top of her dress, brushed her hair, and then asked, “Do I look like I was crying?”
Georgette refrained from cursing her lightly. Was she red-nosed, blotchy-faced, swollen, and somehow both pale and heated? No. She looked slightly red around the eyes and flushed on her cheeks, drawing attention to her overall beauty. Georgette on the other hand, fit the first description when she truly cried.
“You look lovely,” Georgette said sourly. Since they’d had the conversation about their respective looks when weeping, Marian laughed as they stepped out onto the landing.
Joseph had reached the door to Charles’s office and looked up. Seeing Marian grinning seemed to wound him, but Marian only saw the dark look he cast at her.
“Did you see how he looked at me?” Marian whispered. “If looks could kill, he’d have just murdered me.”
Georgette considered and abandoned several replies and then it was too late.
The two friends made their way to the kitchens where Eunice was cooking two dinners.
“Hello darling, Eunice,” Georgette said, kissing her cheek. “Do you have a list
of things we should acquire for Katherine and her family?”
Eunice nodded towards the end of the counter, and Georgette picked up the sheet of paper. Eunice glanced at Marian and then lifted a brow. “Fighting with Joseph again?”
“I think it’s all falling apart,” Marian wailed and then took in a deep breath, screwing her eyes shut.
“And I thought you were stupid when it came to Charles,” Eunice told Georgette flatly, entirely without sympathy. “Use your eyes, Marian. Stop listening to all the poison.”
“Is that what he said?” Marian demanded, eyes suddenly flashing with fury.
“That’s what you said,” Eunice replied. Marian stepped back, shocked, and Eunice took the chance to turn to Georgette. “Lucy went to help the doctor. He’s very grateful, but Charles told her she can’t stay overnight. I volunteered to do so instead. If you don’t need me?”
“That’s very kind of you,” Georgette said carefully. “Perhaps someone from Katherine’s family would be a better choice than you, darling.”
Eunice laughed low and said, “The doctor needs a person who isn’t used to obeying when that woman says jump. I heard about her from Charles, Joseph, and Anna. She sounds like she’s a handful.”
Georgette opened the back door to prevent Marian from getting up in arms again as she had that look about her. Was she fleeing? Georgette had to admit she was. She was growing tired of confrontation.
Marian’s cottage was the closet to the village and the dogs were used to the walk, so the four of them, Georgette’s three and Marion’s one, surged ahead. It would probably be faster to go that way, but Georgette saw the sick look on Marian’s face.
No, Georgette thought, her friend wouldn’t find her way while she was being assaulted on every side. Instead, she called the dogs back and then said to Marian, “Shall we take the auto? That way we won’t have to carry everything over the hill and through the woods.”
Marian’s agreement was pure relief, and Georgette hooked her arm through Marian’s.
“I love you, my dear friend.”
“Even without Joseph?”
